My Northstar is at about 80k and I want to do a tuneup. being that the dealer charges so much, I was planning on having a guy from the local Cadillac shop to do it in his free time. I just need to buy the parts. Do I just need plugs, wires, and a fuel filter? Is anything else done during the tuneup? I also need a good place to order the parts online. Thanks

mcowden

04-06-05, 05:28 PM

It would help to know what kind of car you have... Search for my previous post about a 5% discount on parts at www.rockauto.com. Are you having some problem that's prompting you to want to change out plugs and wires? The first tune-up interval is 100k miles if I remember right. If you're going to be under the hood for a while anyway, though, you might want to check the PCV valve (or just replace it since it's about a $2 part and 20 seconds to swap it out) and clean the throttle body. Are you due for a coolant change? There's plenty of information in the archives about this stuff. If you search, you'll probably find a wealth of goodies about what to do, what parts to use, how to do it, how much it will cost, etc.

Yaemish

04-06-05, 06:23 PM

My Eldorado is a 96. I changed the coolant last weekend and cleaned the throttle body in the fall. Think it needs to be cleaned again?

Ranger

04-07-05, 12:55 PM

No. I think TB cleaning once a year is probably quite conservative.

BeelzeBob

04-07-05, 04:31 PM

If it is running fine then there is little or nothing to do. If the coolant has been service and the throttle body cleaned then you have done a lot of it already.

Really, there is nothing to "tune up". If the plugs or wires are damaged or suspect then you just replace them. There is no timing to set or anthing to adjust. If it is running good then the plugs are likely fine and same for the wires. Both of which will easily go 100K if not much further.

Leave it alone unless there is a specific driveability issue. If so, then diagnose that problem and address it specifically. A wholesale "tuneup" is a thing of the past. Drive it and leave it alone. More damage is done to the spark plug wires trying to R&R the plugs than any possible gain.